The major thrust of this Gastroenterology Research Training Program is to prepare the M.D., Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, and predoctoral student for a career as a physician/scientist and independent investigator in Academic Gastroenterology. There is a multifaceted faculty to provide prospective trainees select opportunities in contemporary approaches to cellular/molecular biology, oncogenesis, signal transduction pathways, virology, immunology, and stem cell biology. Faculty have been recruited from- several disciplines i.e., the Department(s) of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Surgery and from the Brown University Pathobiology, and the Molecular and Cellular Biology (M.C.B.) Programs. Trainees will be recruited from several sources i.e.; 1) those having completed a minimum two years in the Brown University/Affiliated Hospital Clinical Adult and Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship Program including clinical fellows from the Department of Surgery who wish to pursue the physician/scientist track in Gastrointestinal research; 2) those with a recent Ph.D., degree in Pathobiology, or M.C.B.; 3) Predoctoral students in the Pathobiology and M.C.B. Graduate Programs or Brown Medical Students; and 4) Brown University minority students, some of whom will matriculate through the eight-year M.D. Program. These students are initially accepted into the Brown Undergraduate curriculum (Arts and Sciences) and, following graduation, are admitted into the M.D. Training Program. We request two postdoctoral M.D., M.D. / Ph.D. or Ph.D. trainees who will devote a minimum of two years (and preferably three years) to basic or translational research. The research effort will be 90% for M.D or M.D./Ph.D and 100% for Ph.D. postdoctoral Fellows. There is a request for two predoctoral trainees enrolled in the M.D., M.D./Ph.D. or M.D. programs at Brown University. These individuals will devote 1-3 years of 100% effort in basic or translational research activities. Finally, a request is made for two minority undergraduates students (juniors and/or seniors) who will spend the summer months and as much as 20 hours a week during the academic year as part of the Brown University honors thesis program. It is anticipated that the undergraduate minority students will spend 1-2 years in our research training programs. This Brown University and Lifespan Affiliated Hospital program is designed to educate M.D., and Ph.D scientists and predoctoral students to pursue an academic career in Gastroenterology.